In the 21st century, is it still possible to build a dive resort at the edge of the world in an area that very few people have heard of, more forgotten than the nearby region known as the Forgotten Islands, where the nearest airport is hours away, where almost no one has ever dived (and then only from passing boats), where there are no contacts, no facilities of any sort and you have to start from absolute zero?

Raja Ampat is known and beloved by many divers. But a one-hour flight south from Sorong will take you to another gem in Kaimana—Triton Bay. My liveaboard adventure began here. However, the diving area in Triton Bay, south of Raja Ampat, was only explored in more detail just a few years ago. Only a handful of liveaboard boats go to these dive sites, and there is currently only one resort. Apart from a few local small fishing villages, there is no civilisation to speak of.

Situated within the Coral Triangle, West Papua has been coined the Bird’s Head Seascape and is considered the world's premier epicenter of marine biodiversity. Bird’s Head Seascape lies above a tectonic plate convergence zone, making it one of the most geologically active places on Earth. The currents of the Pacific Ocean flow through this region, bringing in rich nutrients and creating an environment, which cultivates extreme marine diversity.

The incredible reefs and tremendous biodiversity of the Raja Ampat area have made this remote part of the Indonesian archipelago one of the hottest dive locations in the world, and those currents are the very lifeblood of the area. For they carry the rich nutrients from the deep basins of the Pacific Ocean to the northwest of Raja Ampat and have helped to create what are generally considered to be the finest coral reef ecosystems in the world.

 

Having lived there for over 20 years, he has dedicated the majority of his time to the conservation of Raja Ampat and the broader Bird’s Head Seascape since 2004. Erdmann is also the regional coordinator of the Bird’s Head Seascape marine conservation initiative, which is a multi-institutional initiative involving Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, WWF-Indonesia, the State University of Papua (UNIPA), RARE, the Papua Sea Turtle Foundation, WWF-US, Sea Sanctuaries Trust and a variety of private sector marine tourism groups.  

At last, I reach the end of the reef, alone, and stare into the blue while I calm my breathing down. As the minutes pass, doubt creeps into my mind as to whether I’ve made the right decision. Everyone is enjoying the busy reef behind me and I am missing it all!

As I am about to give up, I glance a dark shadow before me in the blue, growing larger every second. I swim out from the reef and am greeted by the largest manta ray I have ever seen. Welcome to Blue Magic, a dive site that typifies the wonders to be found in Dampier Straight, one of the hotspots in Raja Ampat.

Wobbegongs—also commonly known as carpet sharks due to their velvety and highly ornamented livery—are currently grouped into three genera and eleven species. All are found in the Western Indo-Pacific, mostly in shallow Australian and Indonesian waters. Their common name derives from the Australian aboriginal language meaning “shaggy beard”, referring to the flaps and tassels growing around their wide mouths.

The seas here are calm much of the year due to light winds and the shelter provided by nearby islands and reefs. Everywhere one looks, potential dive sites beg to be explored and with a water temperature always in the 27-28° C range we would be happy to spend many hours per day doing so.

Clouds of tiny fish surrounded some of the coral bommies while up and down the steep slopes of the site, schools of four-lined snappers, sweetlips, fusiliers and rabbitfish wandered amongst red and purple soft corals, leather and black coral bushes.

Pygmy seahorses seem to be everywhere, so we restrict ourselves to looking for them on designated macro days when we are diving in calm areas.

This site could be dived from 30 meters to the surface so bottom time was no problem. We took advantage of this by spending the entire day at this site, most of it in the water.

Highlights were the abundance of orang-utan crabs, striking orange ‘pygs’ (pygmy seahorses) on a matching fan, a giant zebra crab on a fire urchin, and bizarre Phyllodesmium species nudibranch, juvenile egg cowries and both robust and ornate ghost pipefish.

Divers came and went as they pleased all day changing locations as they learned what others found in their explorations, trading information on critters, their depth and landmarks to find them.

On the second dive, I came upon a beautiful orange sea fan perched on a sandy ledge in the wall. It was such a beautiful colour that I searched it carefully for any small creature to use as a subject for a photo composition.

Unusual Dives

No story on Raja Ampat diving can be complete without a mention of
the narrow passage between Gam and Waigeo Islands. A channel, so
narrow it seems to be a small river, divides the two islands and runs
into Kaboi Bay, a bay which at first seems to be a large lake.

There is currently no effort at conservation in the area, and it is likely to be years before any effective conservation plan is in place to protect this amazing ecosystem. We hope the new Raja Ampat district government will resolve some of these issues and help to protect the people, reefs and rainforests of this remarkable and unspoiled area. Only time will tell.

Humanity’s increasing and wanton destruction of our seas is causing a spiral into extinction of this, the largest sea turtle and reptile on Earth.

 

In 2008, as in past years, we held two expeditions of 14 people each between July 14 and August 6. Each sortie lasted 11 days and 10 nights. The expeditions go first to the Leatherback nesting beaches to the East of Sorong, the port of embarkation on a quality live aboard boat.